At the same time, in another room of the castle, Kiritsugu Emiya confirmed through the surveillance cameras in the main hall that Morgan had stepped up to confront Kayneth.
Seizing the opportunity, he rushed toward Irisviel's room, intending to take the children brought by the naive Shiomi as hostages to force the enemy into using a Command Spell to make their Servant commit suicide.
However...
"The door... is gone?"
Standing by the wall where the guest room should have been, Kiritsugu found no sign of a door.
He reached out and ran his hand along the wall, clearly sensing the flow of Mana—proof that a barrier had been placed here, one meant to disrupt sensory perception.
"So that's how it is." Kiritsugu let out a bitter smile, grasping the situation.
"Kiritsugu? Is that you out there?"
Irisviel's voice came through the wall.
"You're safe inside, Irisviel. Don't worry."
Realizing the other side had thoroughly prepared, Kiritsugu gave up on the hostage plan.
At that moment, a line of text appeared on the wall, then slowly faded away:
"Only those free of sin may pass."
"..."
He hadn't expected a barrier like this. A sharp wave of scornful anger rose in Kiritsugu's chest.
What he didn't know was that this was no ordinary barrier, but one of the four categories of Magecraft Morgan specialized in—"Mirror," "Coffin," "Garden," and "Tower."
This one was called the "Garden of the Innocent," the same type of magic used to imprison Merlin, the Magus of Flowers.
Kiritsugu had no time to delve into the details. Irisviel's voice still came clearly through the wall, so when she suddenly gave a sharp gasp, he immediately heard it.
"What is it, Irisviel?"
"New intruders. They're approaching the castle from another route," Irisviel quickly informed him.
Kiritsugu let out a wry smile. "This place is popular tonight."
"...Kiritsugu, the one coming... it's Kirei Kotomine." Irisviel confirmed it shortly afterward.
That name gave Kiritsugu a headache.
Saber was fighting Caster, while Morgan remained in the castle to confront Kayneth and protect Tenkei Shiomi's two adopted daughters.
Given the situation, unless the new enemy threatened the children, Morgan couldn't afford to help.
"Maiya and I will go."
Kiritsugu picked up the automatic rifle at his side.
Even though he had always seen Kirei Kotomine as the most dangerous enemy in this Holy Grail War and kept his guard up, he hadn't planned on facing him this early.
But just as Kiritsugu had his eyes on Kirei from the start, Kirei had done the same—seizing the perfect opening to infiltrate the Einzbern forest alone.
It was a twist Kiritsugu hadn't planned for, but at least now, he had nothing holding him back.
If even he was barred by the barrier, Kirei Kotomine wouldn't be getting through either.
Irisviel was safe, and Saber was locked in a brutal battle.
With his resolve set, Kiritsugu left the castle with his assistant Maiya, heading into the forest to lay traps and prepare an ambush for Kirei Kotomine.
Kiritsugu Emiya breathed in the cold, damp forest air. It was a far cry from the Einzbern forest in Germany.
He couldn't quite remember...
How long had it been since he stood on a battlefield with such uncertain odds?
…
Thirty-two, or was it thirty-three?
In under a minute, Artoria had fallen into a near-berserk state, cutting down sea demons one after another. She'd lost count of how many had spawned by now.
She could vaguely sense—this minute was turning out to be far longer than she'd ever anticipated.
Glancing back at Shiomi, she saw his body stained with the blue-black ichor of the sea demons. Yet he remained unfazed, fully focused on preparing his Magecraft.
Caster was well aware of how dangerous Tenkei Shiomi was. Even if he dismissed the man emotionally, rationally he stayed on high alert.
Gilles de Rais drove his Noble Phantasm, The Prelati's Spellbook, to its limit. Ignoring the disadvantageous terrain, he accelerated the summoning of sea demons to the point that even he himself was engulfed, leaving no clear opening for an attack.
Forty-six.
Artoria firmly etched the number into her mind.
The forty-sixth one.
Even with ample Mana, she fought fiercely to carve out a circle of safety around Shiomi. But just as she was about to keep swinging her invisible blade, a sea demon lunged forward and wrapped a tentacle around her left wrist.
With a roar, Artoria sliced it clean off.
But that split-second was enough. Another sea demon sprang at Shiomi from behind, ready to swallow him and the unconscious boy whole.
"Shiomi!"
As Artoria shouted in warning, Shiomi calmly clenched his fist and turned, casting a glance at the large sea demon behind him.
Caster grinned with twisted glee, anticipating a surge of Mana as the creature devoured Shiomi.
Two brilliant flashes—red and yellow—cleaved the beast in half.
Instead of sitting on the sidelines waiting to strike Caster at the perfect moment, Diarmuid followed his instincts and leapt to the defense of Shiomi and Artoria.
"Lancer…" Artoria was taken aback.
Shiomi gave a faint smile. "Brace yourselves for the Mana shock, Saber, Lancer."
He raised his hands once more. A single Rune glimmered briefly in the air.
"Wild Thunder (Holy War)."
As he spoke, blinding lightning erupted from the void, engulfing the battlefield. Neither the sea demons nor Caster could escape its fury.
Artoria and Diarmuid instinctively drew close to Shiomi, relying on their Magic Resistance to shield themselves from the backlash of the Grand Magecraft.
The sea demons couldn't endure the overwhelming magical surge. After brief, jerky spasms, they burst like water-filled balloons, scattering in every direction.
Electric currents rippled across the blood-soaked, muddy ground. Grass and trees shriveled and blackened, the area left in the wake of calamity.
"This is..." Diarmuid murmured in awe.
"…True Grand Magecraft," Artoria whispered.
In less than ten seconds, the lightning faded, leaving behind a devastated battlefield, with residual currents still crackling intermittently.
As for Caster—he realized the battle had tipped out of his favor the moment the Magecraft activated and promptly withdrew.
—That, too, was likely part of his so-called "perfect preparation."
"Since you stepped in just now, I'll let your Master off for tonight, Lancer." Shiomi said indifferently, as though the destruction around him had nothing to do with him. Cradling the boy, he turned back toward the castle. "Next time, I'll come to you."
"I'm deeply grateful…"
The moment he laid eyes on Tenkei Shiomi, Lancer understood exactly what kind of opponent Kayneth had faced.
And Shiomi, with a touch of mercy, had chosen to let them go.
[Unfortunately, it's not time to rest yet, my husband.]
After updating Shiomi on the situation in the castle, Morgan added the line with an air of casual cheer.
...
(40 Chapters Ahead)
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